PICKET: Attorney of Cain accuser - 'If the media chooses to publish her name that’s the media’s business'

Joel Bennett, the lawyer who is representing one of the women claiming that Herman Cain sexually harassed her during both of their tenures at the National Restaurant Association (NRA) in the 1990’s, spoke to the press outside of his Georgetown offices late Friday afternoon. Mr. Bennett told reporters his client, a federal government employee who has been married for 26 years, wants to remain anonymous.

The National Restaurant Association, according to Mr. Bennett, released his client from a confidentiality contract, so a statement could be crafted relaying to the press that she stands by her remarks about her accusations against Mr. Cain.

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I asked Mr. Bennett how was it his client wants to remain anonymous, but seems so willing to put her attorney out in the media spotlight to rebut Mr. Cain’s response to being accused of sexual harassment.

“Mr. Cain has made statements after Politico initially revealed there had been one or more sexual harassment complaints against Mr. Cain. There were at least two sexual harassment complaints filed—one by my client,” Bennett said.

“The statements that Mr. Cain has made make it unclear as to who he is talking about all the time but he has generally said these complaints were baseless. ‘I did not engage in sexual harassment.’ And my client felt she wanted to respond to those statements in a prudent way and it’s her position that it’s most prudent for her to do it this way rather than exposing herself personally.”

“So is she concerned that she is going to be exposed soon?” I asked.

“She prefers her privacy and not to be a public figure. If the media chooses to publish her name, that’s the media’s business. She would prefer it not be published,” Bennett responded.

“She and her husband see no value in revisiting this matter now nor in discussing the matter any further publicly or privately,” Mr. Bennett said.

Bennett told reporters there was more than one incident involving Cain and his client but there were no other witnesses he knew about who could corroborate the incidents. Bennett also could not say if his client told other colleagues about her grievances regarding Cain.

Question of the Day

Whose side of the story do you believe?

About the Author

Kerry Picket, a former Opinion Blogger/Editor of The Watercooler, was associate producer for the Media Research Center, a content producer for Robin Quivers of “The Howard Stern Show” on Sirius satellite radio and a production assistant and copy writer at MTV.